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If there's no money involved, I'd be willing to wait until 2011 to call for Hendry's scalp... but I bet there is money involved.

I think Jake Fox has a chance to carve out a nice little Rico Brogna-ish niche for himself, but he can only really play 1B isn't likely to ever hit that well to where he's truly an asset there, and is already what... 27?

I'd gladly let him go for nothing if it means we can staple Milesy Virus to his boarding pass out of town.

I know some people are sick of him (his college coach told him before his draft year he wasn't going to start and this is now his 3rd MLB organization) but I have always like Spencer as a gamble.
His is big, runs real well for his size, strong arm and some big-time raw power that he only sometimes taps into.
He could easily wash out but he has a chance to put it all together and be a good LFer

Gray's a 28-YO middle reliever taken in the 32nd round in 2004 who has pretty ordinary stuff. Spencer's on his third organization now, after being drafted by the Phils in 2007 and traded to Oakland in 2008 in the Blanton deal; corner OF who doesn't have quite the pop for that position and who can't play CF. Morla's out of the DR: he's a 21-YO power arm who has been in the states since 2007 and hasn't seen a full-season league yet. He's the only one in the deal with any upside at all, but he really needs to come up with a consistent pitch besides the fastball.

I'm not sure Danny. He's still really raw over there. He's big, but moves well enough for a guy that size. He didn't embarass himself, but I didn't think it was that promising. YOu probably don't want him there every day.

The Cubs finally dumped that unproductive, overpaid player they signed last winter -- no, not that one.

In fact, infield flop Aaron Miles -- traded tonight, along with Jake Fox, to Oakland for reliever Jeff Gray and two prospects -- might have been more difficult to trade than more prominent flop Milton Bradley.

Ouch! Poor guy. Not his fault they didn't utilize his talents properly and make him the closer :P

From the Cubs standpoint, it is basically addition by subtraction (as much as I hate that phrase). Fox has some use, but not to the Cubs -- they always tended to judge him based on what he couldn't do, rather than what he could. His value to the Cubs was in trade (such as this one).

The real value from the Cubs standpoint is that they get rid of Aaron Miles's deal and free up a couple of roster spots, at least on the 25-man roster.

I didn't know Jeff Gray was an MLB player until this trade BTW. I see he is yet another Mizzou State/Southwest Missouri State baseball alum. That program was pumping out solid MLB players at an absoulutely silly rate for a non-Wichita State MVC school in the late 90s/early 00s.

Also, as I look at his baseballcube page it looks like St Louis's Lafayette HS might have had 3 future MLBers on one HS team briefly as Ryan Howard, David Freese and Gray are born within 4 years of each other.

I really would like Hendry to just come out and say that he made a terrible, terrible mistake in giving Aaron Miles 5 mil+ over two years.

No mealy-mouthed "didn't work out" BS, no hindsight 20/20, but an honest to goodness recognition that it was stupid deal when it was offered, a stupid deal when it was signed, a stupid deal when Miles was flailing away, and a stupid deal now that losses have been cut.

I'm half-tempted to get tix to the Cubs convention just so I can make Hendry say it.

Blech. I'd rather they let Barton play everyday than platoon him, especially with Fox. And Miles is useless. Big thumbs down from me. It's early, but I'm already frustrated with this offseason. This looks like the Emil Brown/Mike Sweeney offseason all over again.

I like Fox's bat, and he should be much better suited for the AL. Even so, he still would have value to the Cubs as a PH/potential injury replacement. I think he might be worth enough that, even subtracting $1.7M from his value, he would still have more value than what they acquired, which seems to be pretty much nothing. But I am not the expert, for sure.

I was going to say that sure, it was one awful year, and of course fans who saw it will think he's the suckiest suck that ever sucked, but it's just one year. Then I looked at the numbers, and, well, blech.

My recollection from his St Louis days is that Miles is a marginal defender at SS. And his offense might not be any better than Chen's. Jeff Zimmerman reckons that Fox is a -3 at 3B. It would be awesome if it were true. Somehow I doubt it though. Still I kinda like this deal. Gray didn't seem like he's as good as his numbers from last year.

Miles is unlikely to be as bad as he was with the Cubs last year. He's also unlikely to be as good as he was with the Cardinals the year before. Split the difference, and you have a major league ball player. Not a good one, but not a terrible one.

Gray may be a serviceable reliever, and I like Morla. Jake Fox has no future on the Cubs, and probably not in the NL. Turning him into these guys and getting rid of Miles adds up to a plus, I think.

“[Fox] can hit. We’ve always liked his bat,” assistant GM David Forst said.
...
“And obviously the bat impressed us,” Geren said. “He’s a right-handed hitter with power, something we lacked last year. It’s a step forward to improve what we need to improve, and he gives us versatility and youth.”
...
“Aaron Miles coming off a disappointing year, we thought this might give him a better chance to make a ballclub and play for the A’s,” Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said.

“Jake Fox really did a quality job for us and has been with us quite a while. I think we’re giving him a real good opportunity to play more on a regular basis in the American League. He’s too young in his career just to be a bat off the bench. We certainly felt like we maximized his value in the trade.”
...
If the Cubs trade [Milton Bradley], they would probably have to pick up some of the tab.

“It didn’t have anything to do with saving some money to put toward Milton,” Hendry said. “That really didn’t play into it.”

Miles is unlikely to be as bad as he was with the Cubs last year. He's also unlikely to be as good as he was with the Cardinals the year before. Split the difference, and you have a major league ball player. Not a good one, but not a terrible one.

Even with that .317 batting average in 2008, by Fangraphs' reckoning Miles has been two runs above replacement level over his entire career. To my eye, that's pretty much what he has been, a replacement level 2b.

Watching Miles play for the Cardinals was a conflicting experience. On the one hand, he had as little physical talent as I've seen for a major league player. On the other hand, he somehow had that .317 BA one season and even at replacement level was useful in an absolute sense in 2006 (that is, some of the alternatives were worse). It was kinda funny hearing people say his teammate for two years, David Eckstein, got more from less talent than anyone else, when it was pretty clear Eckstein had worlds more talent both at the plate and in the field than Miles does.

The thing about Fox is that he provided insurance at 1B, 3rd, RF and LF. Sure, he couldn't field well at any of them, but he also provided nice RH pop off the bench. Him and the Hoff could provide thunder off the bench, but both are defensively limited, so i guess one had to go.

1. Fox's future was pretty clear last year when Piniella wouldn't play him (much) even after Soriano was shut down. So this is another example of the Cubs putting somebody in the doghouse then dumping him ASAP.

2. Now Miles was in the doghouse and dumped ASAP and that was a proper move. But ...

3. We seem to have basically given up on Jake Fox to save $1.7 M. Why not just cut Miles? If the Cubs are cash-strapped enough that they need to jettison decent players (Fox) to save $1.7 M, they are in real trouble.

4. Fair enough, the Dominican kid sounds like a reasonable gamble in return.

Walt,
To be fair, the more pitchers saw Fox, the more they exploited his inability to hit the breaking ball. Between that and his defensive liabilities, I could see how Lou soured on him. Still, I thought the kid worked his ass off no matter where they played him.

Is Uribe for Miles the trade of the worst hitting pair of future World Series champions?

You know, something very much like that crossed my mind. But Uribe wasn't THAT bad for the '05 Sox (not good either--85 OPS+), and he'd hit very well the previous year. And unlike Miles, Uribe was a legitimate shortstop. (Yes, I know, you said "worst hitting." )

IF you are going to give up Fox I would have hoped they would have had to take Bradley as well. Oh well.

I'm pretty sure that Fox is going to top out as a 4th outfielder ( I know he is a 1b) or weaker DH. But still this trade just stinks. Hendry sings Miles to a stupid and pointless multiyear contract and then they only way to get out from under it to create salary space is to package him with a lively bat. Stupid, stupid move on Hendry's part.

To be fair, the more pitchers saw Fox, the more they exploited his inability to hit the breaking ball. Between that and his defensive liabilities, I could see how Lou soured on him.

Oh, I don't think Fox is gonna amount to much. It was more that the Cubs were going nowhere and Soriano was on the DL and the Cubs had OF dreck -- in that situation, you give the playing time to Fox and hope he puts something together.

Aren't the A's just going to see what they can get for Cust, and if nothing, then cut him and replace him w/ Fox? Actually, Beane seems to be following the Cust model of gathering high impact AAA bats that other teams don't want and see what they can do at the major league level. He did it w/ McPherson and now Fox. He gave up nothing of value (to him) in players but is paying $1.7 for Miles. I don't think he'll pencil him in as the 1b (or 3b) starter. It's a low risk with possible good upside move.

Fox is a useful pick up. At the least, it prevents seeing things as hideous as Jack Hannahan or Bobby Crosby at first base. Aaron Miles will fill the role of terrible player that I hate which Bobby was doing so nicely last year.

Gray is a serviceable reliever but the A's seem to be able to produce those at will.

I don't think the A's gave up anything they'll miss. Gray's not a bad guy to have at the end of the bullpen, but he's behind a bunch of guys in Oakland (Bailey, Devine, Ziegler, Wuertz, Kilby, Breslow, Blevins) with a few relief prospects coming up behind him (Henry, Demel, Carignan). They also have to figure out what to do with Casilla, who they'll probably non-tender. Spencer probably wouldn't even be a starter in the Sacramento OF if they still want to try Doolittle or Carter out there--they have to find playing time for Corey Brown, one of Cunningham/Buck, and maybe even Sulentic or Peterson. Morla is a lottery ticket.

I like Fox as a potential platoon partner for Cust or Barton and as a bat off the bench. They already have a glut of OK corner outfielders in Sweeney, Hairston, Cunningham, and Buck, so I don't see Fox getting much playing time in the OF. I guess this could lead them to trade Hairston, though he seems like a similar hitter to Fox with a lot more glove.

That said, I think I'd rather have Sam Dyson and some change than Fox and Miles for $1.7M.

Shows how much attention I pay to Oakland (the whole AL West, really). Geez. That's horrible.

I mean, Crosby washed out as a *shortstop* because he couldn't hit enough to stay in the lineup, if memory serves. So what the hell are they thinking? Some random lefty pinch hitter type would probably hit better than Crosby.

EDIT: I guess he washed out because of health issues too, but it's not like he was much of a hitter to start with.